[Social-sciences-list] Introduction, then a serious question

Mon Nov 10 06:16:27 UTC 2014

This is really very interesting.

I think you have tumbled into territory that's just been waiting for
exploration.

What about building a webpage with a blog, to talk about it? Create a
Facebook group, too?

Have you talked about this with other professionals working with the Blind?

I'm gonna cc this to a few people back east in the USA, my natal home, and
some in BC, Canada, where I am right now, to see who might have some ideas.

Thanks, Kaiti.

RC also called Claire who is excited and relieved to have music back in her
life again

On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 at 8:54 PM, Kaiti Shelton via Social-sciences-list <
social-sciences-list at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Some of you may have seen me around on other lists; I'm a junior music
> therapy major, and the president of the Ohio Association of Blind
> Students.  In case you're wondering what music therapy is, it is the
> evidence-based use of music to address individualized goals through
> music and therapeutic relationships, carried out by a professional who
> has completed an approved music therapy training program and earned
> board-certification by passing an exam for accreditation.  To simplify
> that, in my field I will use music to address musical and nonmusical
> goals, including gait regulation, memory recall, enforcing positive
> behavior in children, improving social skills, improving/maintaining
> quality of life, increasing fine and gross motor skills, improving
> appropriate communication, etc.  I'm a lot more like a physical or
> occupational therapist than a music teacher or performer, because I do
> keep track of data and evidence to back up research and keep track of
> progress.  End plug, but if you have any questions about what music
> therapy is, feel free to ask.  I'm really looking forward to
> interacting on this list.  I have been on the human services list for
> quite a while, but I'm wondering if social science might be a little
> more in-line with what I'm going to talk about in the next paragraph.
> I'm also working towards a minor in psychology, so that's another
> reason why I joined.
>
> Anyway, the serious stuff that I mentioned.  I just returned home from
> the national conference for AMTA, the American Music Therapy
> Association.  I had a great time overall, and learned a lot, but it is
> one of the things I've learned that has me really worried about some
> ethical concerns I see.  I went to a session on Friday night called
> Musical skills and competencies: essential or not?  The AMTA has
> established competencies which all music therapy students must meet in
> order to earn certification, but there is no standard protocol or
> guidelines for accommodating when students with disabilities have to
> make modifications.
>
> The presenter used a student who is currently a senior in her program
> as an example (with the student's permission).  This student lost her
> left hand due to cancer when she was a kid, and is now looking for
> music therapy internships.  It was apparent when she came to the
> school for music therapy that guitar just wouldn't be an option for
> her, since one hand needs to play chords and the other strums.  The
> professor, having no idea what to do for this situation, called AMTA.
> They told her, "You'll have to decide how to accommodate her."  They
> offered this professor no guidance, no suggestions, not a single clue
> about what should be done to make sure this student can get the
> competency.  So, the professor accommodated by letting the student use
> an IPad app to create the sound of a guitar in her sessions.
> Otherwise, she's a really good music therapist in the making, and can
> apparently play piano very well.  Aside from one hand being missing
> and guitar in the traditional sense being a problem, there is nothing
> that suggests to this professor that this student wouldn't be an
> exceptional therapist.  However, she has had to have conversations
> with the student, in which she has had to explain that the
> accommodation process for music therapy students is completely
> subjective.  The professor sees the IPad as an accommodation to meet
> the guitar competency, but an internship director might see that the
> competency is unmet and not take this student into their program
> because of it.  The professor expressed worry, because on one hand she
> wants this girl to succeed and knows her skills, but doesn't want to
> set her up for failure if no one else agrees with her on
> accommodations in an internship.  On the one hand, she wants to
> believe that music therapy can be an accessible career to those with
> disabilities, but she also feels like she needs to be a gatekeeper for
> the competencies so the integrity of the field is maintained, and the
> integrity of the college is upheld.  She's very worried because she
> realizes that as music therapy has grown, more and more students with
> disabilities are going to be coming into the field.  Competencies just
> keep getting added to the litany, but none have been taken away or
> modified.
>
> I had a situation last semester, where my professors didn't know how
> to accommodate me in documentation.  While this session focused on
> accommodating for the music competencies, the problem is still the
> same.  I question how on Earth a profession which accommodates for
> individual client needs on a daily basis around the world doesn't have
> policies in place for accommodating students with disabilities who
> wish to become professionals?  How is it okay that there is no
> standard system in place for this?  I understand every student is a
> case-by-case basis really, but there is nothing at all for professors
> to go by, so they don't know what is okay and what is breaching the
> competencies.  I wonder how many students have been held back for one
> reason or another, because they couldn't meet a competency in the
> cookie-cutter way due to their disability?  But let me tell you the
> kicker in all of this; let's say that student X with the hand problem
> is hypothetically told by someone that she can't get an internship
> because she can't actually play guitar.  After the internship and
> completion of the college program for music therapy, all students must
> take an exam to earn certification.  The exam does not test musical
> skill at all.  To my knowledge it also does not test one's ability to
> actively assess clients, which is the issue I ran into last semester
> when I was having difficulty providing visual feedback on my group.
>
> As a student, I understand why we have the competencies.  This is a
> profession that has had to advocate itself to death for the past 60 or
> so years because it is so new and out of a typical person's norm, but
> if we keep making it harder by adding competencies and pushing out
> potential therapists with disabilities, I think detriment will be done
> to the field.  The whole reason I learned about music therapy was
> because I worked with a blind music therapist as a child.  She taught
> me to be okay with the fact that I was different from my sighted
> classmates, emphasized the importance of using braille and a cane, and
> encouraged me to practice music.  When I got older, she was a role
> model I could talk to about general blindness issues, and was a mentor
> once I figured out I wanted to go into music therapy.  I remember
> being 8 or 9 years old, and worrying about how I would go to the
> grocery store by myself when I was older.  I think she and I had a
> closer therapist-client relationship because she was someone I could
> ask questions that others wouldn't understand.  I am hoping to do the
> same thing for other students with disabilities who may become my
> clients, and it would be a shame if others with disabilities can't
> serve as role models and mentors to their clients.
>
> Is it ethical for a profession which strives to accommodate clients to
> push those who have disabilities and want to be a part of the striving
> away?  To me, that says that I as a blind person am good enough to
> receive services from a music therapist, but I'm not good enough to be
> a provider, and if I modify a competency so that I get the same basic
> result but in a different way I'm not actually a complete music
> therapist.  I personally don't think it is sound, but there are those
> who cling to the clinical competencies like ethically, it is the most
> important thing to protect them.  I'm not saying that protecting the
> integrity of the competencies isn't important, but for students with
> disabilities there has to be some middle ground.
>
> I don't quite know what to do about this.  I've emailed a bunch of
> people to start a think tank, which includes one blind and one sighted
> music therapist, a socialworker who is their supervisor, a woman I
> know who knows more than I thought there was to know about disability
> rights for students, and my state NFB president, but other than that
> I'm stumped.  This issue really bothers me, but I also want to take it
> easy since I still have yet to get through my own training and figure
> out my own accommodation issues.  Thoughts?
>
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